Thursday, 25 April 2013

I just wanted to share my views on the first Leomark Studios
and Stickmen Pictures production, ‘The Mechanic’ which finished shooting
yesterday in LA.

Firstly, I wanted to say what a pleasure it has been shooting
out here in the States. It’s been an ambition from as far back as the day I
realised movie making was where my heart is. My experience of shooting in
Derbyshire gave me real confidence to take things head on out here so I would
like to convey my deepest gratitude to all of the Stickmen Pictures faithful
back home.

The shoot of ‘The Mechanic’ took place on 4 days over a
week. The shoot was fully loaded with extensive shot lists which made for long
days.

I want to take a moment to address all of the individuals
that made this happen:

Cast

Jacob Matthews came through the most
competitive audition process I have ever been involved in. He is supremely
professional, universally liked by all on set and an outstanding performer. He
showed great stamina to keep his high performance going during the long hours
and integrated his natural comedic improvisation with hilarious effect.
However, the most important thing he achieved with the character was the
balance. Not only will you find his character outrageously funny but you will feel
his innocence and subsequently always root for him.

Darcy Donavan (Anchorman, My Name is Earl, Browsers) plays
multiple characters (Sexy Customer, Police Woman) in this film. Her obvious beauty
juxtaposed with a great ability to perform made her a standout choice for us.
For one of her roles she endured 6 hours in the character make-up chair and
still gave us every ounce of energy without a single complaint. An attitude
like this is invaluable when making a film and I cannot speak highly enough of
Darcy in this light. Darcy lit up the set with her colourful persona and I’m
sure everyone is in agreement with the positive effect she had during this
shoot.

Derek Lux, the
laugh inducer, plays multiple roles (Tall Robber, Angry Boyfriend) in this film.
Derek has a great natural ability to improvise. When called upon within an
instant he could plunge into his huge repertoire of comedy and deliver with
distinguished results. It was a real pleasure to have such ability in the film
and I can’t wait for you all to see his talents.

Brian Prisco
& Scotty Servis formed two
enigmatic sides of the Three Robbers. It was clear from their auditions that
these guys were top drawer and when put along aside each other delivered a
superb performance. We are lucky to have such talented and committed
individuals to appear in our film.

Matt Vera came to
our attention in rather serendipitous circumstances when Erik decided upon a
car journey completely different to his usual. Along the way he met Matt who
was eventually cast as the angry husband. Matt worked hard, was always prepared
to help and paid a lot of attention to detail which really supported this film
making process!

Lexi Baxter
played the girlfriend character. Lexi was utterly professional and took
direction effortlessly despite having an outrageous Angry Boyfriendcharacter (played by Derek) to act
alongside.She will definitely have an
impact which I can’t wait for you to see!

Crew

In the crew I want to mention Art Smith who made a lot of things happen for this shoot from props
to locations as well as supporting the rest of the crew anyway he could. He was
extremely positive through the process as was his wife Amy Smith. She was greatly efficient, reliable and spent many hours
on set helping with a variety of different tasks.

MultivisionFx’s Michael Del Rossa (Watchmen, 300, Pirates of the Caribbean)
our Special Effects make-up artist whose talent and incredible standard will be
there for all to see in his Werewolf creation. Histeam
of Aimee Bertone and Carlos Vasquez spent hours in support
of Michael. They were extremely professional and deserve a lot of credit for
their time, effort and creativity.

Sören de la Cruz
was a crucial member of the crew and I believe pretty much performed every film
set task from lighting to stills (to stunt driver…). He was approachable and
smiled through every task during the shoot. Abhishek Bhatt was also a critical member of the team. This was his
first experience on a film set and he cut his teeth on one of the most
important aspects of the film – sound. Abhishek grasped his task quite easily
and was a great help to the crew for the duration of the shoot.

I want to thank Michael
Razo II and Richard Valdez for
their support and patience whilst we drove and shot in their Cadillac Fleetwood
Low Rider, courtesy of Pharaohs, I.E.I want to thank Alex Tuason and Art Tuason for allowing us into Hoppos Custom Suspension Works and being there to make that day as
easy as they could for us.

I also want to thank Roshni
Bhatt for lending her extra pair of hands on set during the house scenes
and making props in pre-production. I want to acknowledge Shaileshkumar Bhatt and Jaymini
Bhatt for being massively supportive to me in every way thinkable and
providing one of the main film sets – the house. I have a lot more to be
grateful for when it comes to these guys but that is for another time and
another way…

Daniel Tee
probably didn’t think he would get a mention but the more sophisticated half of
Stickmen Pictures lying in wait in good old Derby has contributed greatly to
the writing (you’ll notice how the script wasn’t just written by me) and been
extremely supportive of my first venture without his presence on set. He will
also be getting involved with post-production down the line and I look forward
to you all meeting him in the future.

Last but not least the Lundmarks. AnnaLundmark made me a
fantastic cake for my birthday which everyone on the garage day will testify
was amazing, and Emilia Lundmark
weighed in with some innovative prop making. Super effort!

Maria Collis (outside
of being the producer) was the engine of this whole shoot. Her work ethic,
organisation skills, attention to detail and experience really drove this shoot
to a successful conclusion. She was there to put out any fires and made sure
everyone was fed and happy. The great morale of this production can almost
single-handedly be attributed to her. And that is probably an understatement.

Last but not least, Erik
Lundmark (outside of being the producer) who was exactly the man to deliver
a high production valued piece. His preparation skills were of the highest
order (and I have seen some prep with my previous life being in finance!) as
was his awareness of the shot types required to elevate the quality of this
shoot. His line of communication to me was always open and he was able to
support me with his vast experience. His work ethic (something the Lundmarks
should be famous for in my opinion) was awesome to behold as he put himself
through a physical exam with the equipment he was utilising. I have learnt a
lot about making films here in LA through observing Erik and will never forget
this experience.

All in all a great thank you to everyone’s contribution
including all those who I have not mentioned above. Without your dedication we
could never realise this vision which I know will be worth the wait when it is
finally ready for you to see.

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

So a busy couple of months up ahead as the going gets tough
and time to deliver quickly approaches. Dan and I are currently engaging in a
number of projects and although we are working tirelessly towards kicking them
off there is no point in communicating what they are until given the ‘green
light’. That’s where the people with the money come in and our ability to charm
them will be the make or break of the projects we want to do this year. The aim
is to try and make all the networking I have been doing whilst out here pay
off. More to follow.

I have decided to put in one piece of interesting
information that I have learnt whilst here for every blog I write which may
hopefully help demystify Hollywood a little bit for you. Today I’m going to write
about why a film costing a $1 billion may still make no money for its
producers. Yes $1 billion at the box office could potentially leave no back end
profit for the producers. How? Let’s take something like Superman or the Hobbit
or something that costs a lot to make. Well firstly half (50%) of it will go to
the cinema houses ($500 million). That’s what the likes of Showcase, Odeon etc…
charge for showing your film (and they make no money from it as $500 million
barely covers the cost of running a cinema for that many people – they make
their money on popcorn, drinks etc… where there is an 80% profit margin).
Superman or Hobbit or something of that magnitude would cost $250 million to
make in the first place. This leaves £250 million which is spilt between the
distributors (10-15%, so let’s say £100 million there) and £150 million P&A
(Prints and Advertising). P&A is the cost of supplying the cinema houses
with the film prints (could be about $1,500 per cinema!) and the marketing of
the movie globally. So the cost the producer can control is the $250 million
production cost. You lower this, you have more chance of making money if you’re
film does a higher gross. Interesting eay?

Finally, I have purposely left this blog a little later than
on the turn of the year because, for me, New Years is normally associated with
jovial cheer, happy endorphins and excitement at what the next twelve months
could bring. However, I have been left with more sobering thoughts as I
reflected on what events took place around the world (that I read of), how they
affected me and what I personally could do about them. I don’t need to go into
any detail about the gun tragedy that unfolded at Sandy Hook in the U.S or the
appalling act of rape to girl going home on a bus in Delhi, India which left
many in disbelief at what sort of society we’re all living in. The sad thing is
that despite these despicable acts I noticed through people and the media a sense
of being desensitised to such things. Last year there were public shootings not
only in Sandy Hook, but Colorado, Oregon, Toronto (amongst others) and my
observations are that the impact is becoming more and more diluted across the
world. There was a huge uproar in India in response to the rape with almost
everyone having an opinion or saying something to denounce the act (even though
this act is not isolated). India it seemed had turned a corner. Then I read
this week that it happened again to another person. Another day, another
victim. Desperate and in despair. What do the rest of us do?

I don’t mean to assume anything on your behalf when writing
this but I always feel a sense of moving on after a period sadness. However I
thought about the irresponsibility of moving on without changing. Changing my
thought process and the way I behave. I’ve been guilty of ignoring a lot of
what’s going on around me as I concentrate on my own goals and objectives in
life. But I’ll get nowhere without interacting with people. We all have our
sphere of influence and I guess I am trying to highlight the responsibility we
have in realising that. I hope to set an example of what I believe is right and
centre to that is to always to see the good in people no matter what. You’re
all capable of positively influencing your sphere. Go and do it by example and
watch it ripple across the world. That’s something we cannot have excuses
about.

Wednesday, 5 December 2012

Rather aptly, I feel like I am already a quarter of the
way along to my journey to Mordor. Not that I am depressed and of heavy heart
like young Frodo was all the way through the Lord of the Rings, more that I
have been here 3 months, this is an epic adventure for me and the weight of
success does hang around my neck just like that ring. However, being here is
just what I wanted even though the obstacles to that success are huge.I guess the fact that the Hobbit is out next
week just got me excited!

It’s good to see that while I am here everyone back home
is busy and getting on with things. Dan gave me the news of the positive
reception ‘Devil’s Grip’ received at the festival last month. If you went along
then I’m sure you’ve spread the word and if you didn’t, find someone who did
and receive the spread!

This month has seen an intense part of my scheduling
executed as the follow up to the American Film Market has been non-stop.
Hollywood, Burbank, Sunset Blvd, Santa Monica (etc…) no longer represent these
mythical places with more history than Middle Earth as they are now regular
stops. It’s funny how you build up such places on a pedestal and when it
becomes your home you realise that you have every right to etch yourself here
along with the most well-known celebrities on the planet. After all it’s only a
place inhabited by humans and I’m just another one (no better, no worse).

It’s difficult to report on the exact work I am
undertaking as I am going through a period which will determine the shape of my
entire visit. To that end the better the quality of my output over the next
couple of months, the more likely that success is going to come. For me the AFM
was a great opportunity but the most important part of that opportunity is now
in the aftermath. I hope to be able to give you significant news in the coming
months but at the moment there’s work to be done (from writing scripts to
building business plans to developing production strategies) and I am glad to
be a part of it. Fingers crossed that it all comes together.

The weather here is still great (sorry). I can’t believe
it’s December and it’s hotter here than at home in August! However what’s funny
is that when it does rain here (which it did for once last week) everyone goes
crazy. They all panic and the freeways jam up. What normally takes me 30 mins
to drive took 2 hours because of the widespread panic from the locals. And it
was for what we’d consider light rain. Hilarious now but not when you are
sitting on the road waiting for them to figure out that their cars won’t break
because of the water!

Today I’m taking a break in the evening and going to see
Bruce Springsteen in concert here in LA. Those of you who have read previous
blogs will now be rolling their eyes at the prospect of reading yet another
series of paragraphs of why he is the greatest and no one else (yeah even Muhammed
Ali). But I’ll stop there so you can stop rolling your eyes.

Christmas is around the corner and I hope you all have a
great time this year. It’ll be weird sun-bathing on Christmas Day - sorry, too
much?I’ll also be watching Django
Unchained which is released then too! Here’s to a great 2013 (provided the
world doesn’t end before like some of you keep telling me). Keep smiling.

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About

Rishi Thaker and Daniel Tee are the directors of Stickmen Pictures, a production company that strives to create challenging, comedic and enthralling content for an audience that has eyes and ears for original entertainment. This is their blog to document the trials and tribulations of film making, along with all the great things that happen along the way.